What is a Sales Executive?
Sales Executives are in charge of reaching sales objectives set by the Sales Manager or Sales Director, as well as the sales strategy of the company. They are an organisation’s primary point of contact with its consumers. Their key responsibilities include offering new goods and services to consumers, providing feedback and advice on products and services, and sustaining and growing new businesses to meet predetermined budgets.
Sales Executives help businesses achieve their intended return on investment by selling products and services. Talented salespeople possess all of the necessary sales abilities to distinguish themselves from the competition and raise their market worth. To be a great match for the position and the corporate culture, a candidate applying for a sales job must possess the necessary technical skills and personality attributes. To reach a company’s sales objectives, Sales Executives must be confident salespeople. Sales Executives conduct a lot of customer-facing labour in order to develop connections with current and prospective clients,
Responsibilities
Depending on the company and industry, the Sales Executive's specific scope of activities and obligations will vary.
Because SaaS businesses rely on outbound sales, Sales Development Representatives will cold email prospects and set up appointments, while Sales Executives will clinch deals over the phone or via video conversations. A Sales Executive’s profession requires a lot of communication regardless of the working environment. A Sales Executive serves as a point of contact between a company and its clients by:
- Developing and maintaining connections with existing and potential clients.
- Promoting the company’s solutions and services to other external stakeholders and service suppliers.
- Ensuring sales objectives are fulfilled by preparing proper papers such as bids, contracts, invoices, and event orders.
- Proactively following up on active leads to keep a high sales pipeline and conversion rate
- Holding face-to-face and online meetings and sales presentations
- Completing sales and marketing administrative responsibilities
- Keeping a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database up to date.
- Dealing with contracts and negotiating
- Examining previous transactions
- Meeting sales targets
- Responding to product and service inquiries.
Salary
The average UK salary for a Sales Executive ranges from £20,000 to £52,000.
Due to the fact that geographic location plays a significant role in determining salaries in sales, the UK business capital London has some of the highest salaries in this field, with an average salary of £40,844.
Working hours and work location
Working hours vary by industry but are typically 38-40 hours per week, and depending on the company may include evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
Part-time employment may be offered.
What to expect
Setting sales goals and determining the best means to achieve them are the key responsibilities of Sales Executives. Those responsibilities can apply to a single department or an entire company, depending on their position within an organisation. They study sales statistics and consumer surveys, establish budgets and sales projections, and decide sales pricing and contract conditions to meet their goals. They can also assign sales territory to salespeople, emphasise certain products and services for special attention, and meet with other department heads, dealers, and distributors to discuss methods to boost revenues and save expenses.
Sales Executives work closely with Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) or Business Development Representatives (BDRs) who locate and nurture prospects to complete the sale, demonstrate the product, answer questions about it, and close the sale. Sales Executives, in other words, are salespeople who take leads from consideration to completing transactions.
The tasks of a Sales Executive vary depending on the business, but they are all comparable. Sales Executives may combine leadership duties with sales knowledge to flourish in their careers because they frequently supervise a team of sales employees. Sales Executives are known by many other names like Sales consultants, Business Development consultants, etc. They usually operate under two main categories:
Qualifications
In sales, charisma and soft skills frequently take precedence over academic credentials, especially when good sales talents are backed up by sales experience. The industry determines whether or not a degree is necessary. A four-year degree in a suitable subject of study will almost certainly be required in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. A company may demand a business administration or finance degree in general, while a less particular field may not require a degree for Sales Executives.
However, if you want to make sure to have access to the best-paid jobs as a Sales Executive you should possess an undergraduate diploma. Furthermore, you should consider upgrading your knowledge by obtaining a master’s degree in a relevant field, like Accounting and Finance.
Skills
The ability to sell and excellent communication skills are two "must-have" characteristics in a standard Sales Executive job description.
It’s difficult to fathom a salesperson who isn’t trained in sales strategies and isn’t a good communicator. Sales positions, on the other hand, are adaptable. A Sales Executive’s job description might differ from one organisation to the next. Apart from communication skills and the ability to sell, some of the most indispensable skills a Sales Executive must have or acquire are:
must have skills:
- Ability to build a rapport with customers
- Simple, clear and customer-centric communication
- Critical thinking skills
- Excellent listening skills and ability to empathise with customers’ needs
- Work with the intention of benefiting the customer
- Excellent business communication skills
- Problem-solving abilities
- Time management skills
- Ability to work in a collaborative environment
- Conflict resolution skills
- In-depth knowledge of the products and services they are selling
- Understanding of competitor products
- Knowledge of the latest industry-specific technologies
- Ability to set short and long term goals to achieve targets
- Functional knowledge of standard business tools, techniques, and software
- Information gathering skills
- Research and planning skills
- Ability to create sales presentations
- Knowledge of business policies
- Computer literacy that enables data collection
- Working knowledge of CRM software that is used to collect and retrieve details of customers and other prospects
- Ability to conduct market research
- Knowledge of Information management systems to make use of data collected through software systems
Work experience
Many activities qualify as sales experience, but they all have one thing in common: you've spent time engaging and talking with clients and convincing them to make a purchase because you've shown them that buying what you have to offer would make their lives better.
The most obvious way to gain sales experience is to work in a sales-oriented position. However, that is not always the simplest solution. Some other ways to gain the sales experience necessary for a Sales Executive and start refining your professional abilities are:
Some people are natural-born sellers and entrepreneurs, so they have an easier time developing the talents, charm, and communication qualities required to thrive at closing transactions.
You could discover that you’re in the opposite situation; that it will take some time to gain the talents you’ll need to succeed. Given this, one of the most crucial factors to consider when entering a new sector is accepting to start from scratch. Everyone has to start somewhere.
Signing up for a sales course, webinar, or immersive training program is a terrific method to get sales experience before landing a position as a Sales Executive if you have the means. You’ll study the fundamentals of selling and participate in various activities, such as role-playing, to get experience in sales-like settings. Because you are not dealing with actual consumers, you have more opportunities to make errors, learn from them, and develop practical skills that will prepare you for future 1:1s with customers. These possibilities will also allow you to develop professional connections, which will be beneficial in the future when it comes to networking and finding a job.
Many seasoned sales professionals are eager to share their advice and knowledge with the rest of the globe. Many of them have authored books on sales, in which they explain tactics and offer advice on how to become a great sales professional. These books can be about specific forms of sales, such as inbound or SNAP selling, or they can be about more general sales issues, such as the psychology of completing deals or how to increase your influence.
As previously said, acquiring a sales position is the most obvious answer to the question “How can I gain sales experience?” It’s a proven approach to acquiring what you want since you’ll interact with real-life clients, learn from your talks, and improve your ability to market yourself. It is vital to highlight that you are not required to instantly obtain a sales position with a huge enterprise firm. Start small in a retail role to learn how to engage with consumers and become a better communicator, and gradually advance to various positions as you develop experience and talents.
Career prospects
Becoming a Sales Executive could be the right career path for you. Promotional opportunities for Sales Executives can be good, advancement can be into senior sales jobs or into adjacent fields such as marketing or management.
Typical Sales Executive employers include:
- Manufacturers
- Retailers
- Service Industries
- Industrial Organisations
- Charities
Specialised expertise is required in areas such as pharmaceutical, healthcare, and publishing.
Related Courses
This is a full-time curriculum, delivered by the University of the West of Scotland London. To accommodate their schedules, students can choose from a variety of start dates. UWS London provides their students with the opportunity to learn from industry experts and guest lecturers, as well as professionals with years of experience. The best thing about this course is that it is held at the London Campus, in the very heart of the UK’s business capital.
Other related courses
- MBA with Banking and Finance - The one-year full-time program at the University of the West of Scotland will provide you with the executive training you need to establish your sales or finance-related career. Because the London Campus is located in the financial district of London, it provides you with a unique perspective on UK business and gives you an advantage in the lucrative career prospects available in the city.
- MSc Accounting and Finance - This one-year, full-time program, delivered by the University of the West of Scotland London at their London campus is designed for people with appropriate academic or professional experience who desire to pursue a career in sales or finance. The course helps students improve their critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical, and research abilities. As a result, following completion of the program, participants will be prepared with the information and advanced abilities needed to launch their careers in sales, finance or finance-related fields.
